List of openly LGBT heads of government

This is a list of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans (LGBT) people who have been the head of government of a country or a subnational division, such as a state, a province or a territory. To date, there have been five openly LGBT people who have served as a national head of government, holding office in Iceland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and Serbia.

National

  Denotes incumbent head of government
Name Image Country Office Political Party Mandate start Mandate end Term length Sexual orientation / Gender identity
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir[1]  Iceland Prime Minister of Iceland Social Democratic Alliance 1 February 2009 23 May 2013 4 years, 111 days Lesbian
Elio Di Rupo[2]  Belgium Prime Minister of Belgium Socialist Party 6 December 2011 11 October 2014 2 years, 309 days Gay
Xavier Bettel[3]  Luxembourg Prime Minister of Luxembourg Democratic Party 4 December 2013 Incumbent 7 years, 48 days Gay
Leo Varadkar[4]  Ireland Taoiseach
(Prime Minister)
Fine Gael 14 June 2017 27 June 2020 3 years, 13 days Gay
Ana Brnabić[5]  Serbia Prime Minister of Serbia Serbian Progressive Party 29 June 2017 Incumbent 3 years, 206 days Lesbian

Sub-national

  Denotes incumbent head of sub-national government
Name Image Entity Office Mandate start Mandate end Term length Sexual orientation / Gender identity
Don Dunstan  South Australia
 Australia
Premier of South Australia 1 June 1967

2 June 1970

17 April 1968

15 February 1979

321 days,

8 years, 258 days

Bisexual
Jerónimo Saavedra[lower-alpha 1]  Canary Islands
 Spain
President of the Canary Islands 29 November 1982

11 July 1991

4 July 1987

2 April 1993

4 years, 217 days

1 year, 265 days

Gay
Elio Di Rupo  Wallonia
 Belgium
Minister-President of Wallonia 15 July 1999 4 April 2000 264 days Gay
Jan Franssen  South Holland
 Netherlands
King's Commissioner of South Holland 3 May 2000 1 January 2014 13 years, 243 days Gay
Klaus Wowereit  Berlin
 Germany
Governing Mayor of Berlin 16 June 2001 11 December 2014 13 years, 178 days Gay
Ole von Beust  Hamburg
 Germany
First Mayor of Hamburg 31 October 2001 25 August 2010 8 years, 283 days Gay
Jim McGreevey  New Jersey
 United States
Governor of New Jersey 15 January 2002 15 November 2004 2 years, 305 days Gay
Nichi Vendola  Apulia
 Italy
President of Apulia 4 April 2005 1 June 2015 10 years, 58 days Gay
Clemens Cornielje  Gelderland
 Netherlands
King's Commissioner of Gelderland 31 August 2005 6 February 2019 13 years, 159 days Gay
Elio Di Rupo  Wallonia
 Belgium
Minister-President of Wallonia 6 October 2005 20 July 2007 1 year, 287 days Gay
Lynne Brown Western Cape
 South Africa
Premier of the Western Cape 25 July 2008 6 May 2009 315 days Lesbian
Allan Bell  Isle of Man
 United Kingdom
Chief Minister of the Isle of Man 11 October 2011 4 October 2016 4 years, 359 days Gay
Rosario Crocetta  Sicily
 Italy
President of Sicily 10 November 2012 18 November 2017 5 years, 8 days Gay
Kathleen Wynne  Ontario
 Canada
Premier of Ontario 11 February 2013 7 June 2018 5 years, 116 days Lesbian
Andrew Barr  Australian Capital Territory
 Australia
Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory 11 December 2014 Incumbent 6 years, 41 days Gay
Kate Brown  Oregon
 United States
Governor of Oregon 18 February 2015 Incumbent 5 years, 338 days Bisexual
Wade MacLauchlan  Prince Edward Island
 Canada
Premier of Prince Edward Island 23 February 2015 9 May 2019 4 years, 75 days Gay
Niluka Ekanayake Central Province
 Sri Lanka
Governor of the Central Province 17 March 2016 11 April 2018 2 years, 25 days Transgender woman
Arno Brok  Friesland
 Netherlands
King's Commissioner of Friesland 1 March 2017 Incumbent 3 years, 326 days Gay
Niluka Ekanayake Sabaragamuwa Province
 Sri Lanka
Governor of Sabaragamuwa Province 12 April 2018 31 December 2018 263 days Transgender woman
Jared Polis  Colorado
 United States
Governor of Colorado 8 January 2019 Incumbent 2 years, 13 days Gay
Elio Di Rupo  Wallonia
 Belgium
Minister-President of Wallonia 13 September 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 130 days Gay
Gustavo Melella  Tierra del Fuego
 Argentina
Governor of Tierra del Fuego 17 December 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 35 days Gay
Claudia López Hernández  Bogotá
 Colombia
Mayor of Bogotá 1 January 2020 Incumbent 1 year, 20 days Lesbian
  1. Publicly came out after retirement, although while being a senator.

Others

Politicians who were closeted while in office and never officially came out or were outed only after their deaths or retirement include:

See also

References

  1. Gunnarsson, Valur (30 January 2009). "Iceland to elect world's first openly gay PM". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  2. Vander Taelen, Luckas (10 December 2011). "Can Belgium's new prime minister keep living the dream?". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  3. Gayle, Damien (15 May 2015). "Luxembourg's prime minister first EU leader to marry same-sex partner". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  4. Dunne, Seán (2 June 2017). "Varadkar set to be 'first openly gay Irish PM', say world headlines". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  5. "Srbija ima novu vladu. Ana Brnabić postala premijerka. (Serbia has a new government. Ana Brnabić becomes prime minister". Dirketno.hr. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  6. "Koning Willem II gechanteerd wegens homoseksualiteit".
  7. Hermans, Dorine and Hooghiemstra, Daniela: Voor de troon wordt men niet ongestrafd geboren, ooggetuigen van de koningen van Nederland 1830–1890, ISBN 978-90-351-3114-9, 2007.
  8. Warren Kinsella, "Not everyone loves a parade". Toronto Sun, June 26, 2011.
  9. "Definitely out now". Perceptions, September 14, 1994.
  10. Richard Starr, Richard Hatfield: The Seventeen Year Saga. Goodread Biography, 1988. ISBN 0887801536.
  11. Politician Pays Price For Life On The Edge, Chicago Tribune
  12. "Gay politicians come out of the closet and into the cabinet". The Globe and Mail, November 13, 2009.
  13. Mark Steyn (17 November 2003). "Zimbabwe's Banana left legacy of disgrace". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. Essays in Honor of Bernth Lindfors, Volume 2, Barbara Harlow, Africa World Press, 2002, page 210
  15. Zim's presidential rape scandal, Mail and Guardian, 28 February 1997
  16. Taylor, Rebecca. 'They say that power corrupts – and it does'. The Guardian. 23 January 2002.
  17. McNeil Jr, Donald G. (27 November 1998). "Zimbabwe's Ex-President Convicted of Sodomy". The New York Times (Archives). Retrieved 8 July 2007.
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